Resources

Bio-Inspired Robotics

December 17, 2015 // 0 Comments

Once upon a time, exoskeletons and wearable robots all used to look the same. Exoskeletons had large bulky metal frames, heavy actuators and a backpack filled with batteries and controllers. Newer bio-inspired robotics, however have broken the mold. There are now devices that use wires, cables, compressed air, springs and other soft actuators to [more]

Greg Sawicki on Successfully Reducing Walking Metabolic Cost

December 9, 2015 // 1 Comment

Passive ankle exoskeleton that successfully reduced the metabolic cost of walking on even terrain for healthy individuals, University of North Carolina At Chapel Hill and North Carolina State University, 2015

The Passive Ankle Exoskeleton for “Reducing the energy cost of human walking using an unpowered exoskeleton” is the single greatest exoskeleton development for the 2015 calendar year! Dr. Greg Sawicki, his team and friends were able to create and test a wearable robot that successfully reduced the metabolic cost of walking for [more]

Disruptive: Bio-inspired Wearable Robotics At The Wyss Institute

December 1, 2015 // 3 Comments

Disruptive Podcast From the Wyss Institute, https://www.linkedin.com/company/disruptive-wyss-institute-podcast

The Disruptive podcast series have released several episodes from the Harvard University, Wyss Institute for Biologically Inspired Engineering concerning Bio-Inspired Wearable Robotics. This podcast is led by Conor Walsh, Assistant Professor of Mechanical and Biomedical Engineering at the Harvard John A. Paulson School of Engineering and [more]

Panasonic, ActiveLink – Company Profile

October 29, 2015 // 4 Comments

Panasonic - ActiveLink Promotional Video Screen Capture, https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FAKqaoV04MI

Panasonic – ActiveLink Traded: TYO: 6752 Founded: 2003 (ActiveLink) Headquarters: Nara, Japan Size: 16 employees (2015) Connect: Website: http://activelink.co.jp/en (Note: The Japanese version of the website appears to be updated more frequently.) Overview: ActiveLink made its first big splash in the media with the bombastic Dual-Arm [more]

Books on Exoskeletons and Wearable Robotics

October 22, 2015 // 1 Comment

There are several books on the topic of exoskeletons and wearable robotics that are worth owning, and some that should most likely be skipped. Below are seven tittles for your consideration and a few suggestions on where you can find them: Wearable Robots, Biomechatronic Exoskeletons by José L. Pons, 2008 This is possibly the best exoskeleton [more]

Map of Exoskeleton Companies

October 15, 2015 // 10 Comments

Map of companies, businesses and startups involved with exoskeleton technology from around the world. All entries have been divided into entities with a heavier focus into rehabilitation or able-body user augmentation. Use the map controls to navigate or open in a full window. North America: Alter G 48438 Milmont Dr, Fremont, CA 94538 USA [more]

Soft Exoskeletons and Exosuits

August 31, 2015 // 2 Comments

Soft Exoskeletons, left to right: Harvard Soft Robotic Exosuit - Wyss Institute, Panasonic REALIVE - Matsushita Electric Industrial Co., DSTO Operations Exoskeleton - Gizmodo.AU

A new type of a wearable robot is becoming more popular: soft exoskeletons or exosuits! Soft exoskeletons address one of the main problems of exoskeletons: an exoskeleton is a hard, rigid structure that has to be worn over a soft, flexible body. Soft exoskeletons and exosuits do away with ALL of the hard, rigid frames that make up a classical [more]

Types And Classifications of Exoskeletons

August 19, 2015 // 2 Comments

Exoskeleton systems can be divided into many different categories, types or classifications based on a series of questions: What body parts are actuated or powered by the wearable device? full body upper extremities: arms and torso further broken down into specific areas: some exoskeletons can concentrate on the wrist and fingers, while others [more]

Ekso Bionics – Company Profile

August 2, 2015 // 2 Comments

Ekso Bionics Holdings, Inc. Traded: EKSO Founded: 2005 Headquarters: Richmond, CA, USA Size: ~50 people (2013) Connect: Website: http://www.eksobionics.com Facebook: Twitter: Overview: Out of all exoskeleton companies, few can match the experience of Ekso Bionics. Originally Berkeley Bionics, over the last decade this company has worked on [more]

Carnegie Mellon’s Steve Collins Talks Prosthesis and Exoskeletons

June 29, 2015 // 1 Comment

RI Seminar: Steve Collins Prosthesis and exoskeleton emulators for rapid evaluation... / Youtube

Jan 24, 2014 RI Seminar: Steve Collins, Prosthesis and exoskeleton emulators for rapid evaluation…, Steve Collins, Assistant Professor, Carnegie Mellon University, MechE This is an absolutely phenomenal talk by Professor Steve Collins that is a must-see for anyone who is just now being exposed to the science behind making exoskeletons [more]

Assistive Exoskeletons Review, And Other Full R&D Papers

June 8, 2015 // 0 Comments

Fig 3. ABLE, Nurse Robot, WWH, Full Body Exoskeleton by T. Matsubara, EPOS, Power assist wear by D. Saaki, Soft Exosuit, MIT Exoskeleton / Review of Assistive Strategies in Powered Lower-Limb Orthoses and Exoskeletons

The Cyberlegs website has released several full research papers concerning exoskeleton research that can be read and downloaded for free. One journal article is a particularly good introduction to research and development exoskeletons up to and including 2014: Review of Assistive Strategies in Powered Lower-Limb Orthoses and Exoskeletons, [more]

12 Commercial Exoskeletons In 2015

April 21, 2015 // 3 Comments

15 Commercial Exoskeletons in Development at the Start of 2015

As more commercial exoskeletons continue to be developed, can you tell them all apart? This is a visual list of commercial exoskeletons that are either on the market or under development as of the start of 2015. The exoskeleton devices are separated by type: mobile rehabilitation exoskeletons, fixed rehabilitation exoskeletons, powered [more]